Merlin's Mistake
by SH4D3YM
Summary: Merlin has been missing three months, kidnapped by bandits. When Arthur and the knights find the camp that the bandits were hiding in. Gaius and Gwen soon find out about a mistake Merlin has made. Warning: MPREG
1. Found

King Arthur, his wife Guinevere, his half-sister Morgana, and his father, Uther, were going on a family picnic and being protected by Arthur's five most trusted knights, Sir Percival, Sir Lancelot, Sir Gwaine, Sir Elyan, and Sir Leon. The knights had originally wanted to bring more protection for the Pendragons, after all Merlin was kidnapped three months ago and they still hadn't managed to find him. However, Uther insisted that now they were on high alert with Merlin's kidnapping and were better knights than before.

The knights and their leaders were riding when suddenly a noise like a sword coming out of its sheathe was heard to their left. Arthur stopped and pulled out his sword, the knights quickly followed pulling out their swords. A noise to their right, which sound like a chuckle echoed into Arthur's ears. Suddenly twenty men surrounded them, all with maces, swords, or knives. Arthur and the knights dismounted and started to fight for their lives.

Arthur parried one attack and hit the bandit with the hilt of his sword then stabbed him in his chest. Arthur began to fight another bandit, out of the corner of his eye he saw Uther leading the women away from the bandits, slashing at any that tried to get close to them. Killing bandit after bandit, the six warriors finished them off in a short time.

"We did it!" Gwaine shouted.

"Quiet." Leon told him. "We don't need to attract more."

"Let's go find where Guinevere, Morgana, and Uther." Lancelot said, changing the subject.

"Lancelot's right," Arthur said. "I saw them go this way."

Arthur leads his knights in the direction of his family after they get back on their horses. They have to climb a small hill and not only did the find the royal family, they found the camp of the bandits. Uther, Morgana, and Gwen are waiting for them off of their horses, staying as far away from the camp as they can. Arthur runs over and hugs Gwen, then Morgana, and then his father.

"I'm so glad you're all okay." Arthur tells them after he hugs his father.

"You too, son." Uther says to Arthur.

"Can we please leave?" Morgan asked looking back at the camp. "This plays scares me."

"Of course we c-" Arthur starts to say.

Percival is the one that interrupted Arthur by saying, "Merlin?"

Everyone turned their heads to where Percival was looking after this. Arthur took in the appearance of the camp for the first time. There were tents all around the border, a fire pit in the middle, a large pile of wooden logs for the fire, and a wooden tower that lead to a platform at the top that was probably used as a lookout tower. However, Percival was looking at the five metal cages that held one man or woman in each.

In the exact center cage, a man with long and ratty black hair looked up at the mention of the name Merlin. Arthur gasped when he saw the blue eyes that man had, exactly like Merlin's. The nose is Merlin's too, and the big ears. It was Merlin. Merlin's eyes widened when he saw who called his name and started to stand up, that's when Arthur realized that all the people in the cages were nude. They all had a blanket, however, and as Merlin stood up, he used his blanket to cover himself and made a tight knot with the blanket to keep it from falling off.

"Find the key to his cage!" Arthur yelled before he ran over to Merlin followed by Morgana and Guinevere, while Uther and the knights searched the bandit camp for the key.

"Arthur…" Merlin said. His voice was weak and he sounded tired.

"Hold on we'll get you out soon." Arthur told his friend.

"Found it!" Gwaine shouted. Arthur turned to see Gwaine sprinting towards him, the key in his right hand. Gwaine handed Arthur the key and Arthur unlocked the cage, practically dragging Merlin out of the cage. The two shared a hug then stopped when Arthur felt something on Merlin's skin. He turned Merlin around and saw cuts in his skin that were caused by a whip undoubtedly, a few welts, and purple and blue bruises.

Arthur didn't notice the other knights and his father had joined him until he heard eight other people gasp with him. Lancelot approached Merlin and took off his red cloak and wrapped it around Merlin, Arthur smiled at Lancelot's unselfish nature.

Arthur turned to the group, "We need to get him back to Gaius. Guinevere, Morgana, father, and Lancelot you come with me back to Camelot. The rest of you, unlock the rest of the cages and get them to their homes."

Arthur handed the key back to Gwaine and helped Merlin over to his horse. The five rode back to Camelot, Merlin on the back of Arthur's horse, their backs facing each other. Back at Camelot, Arthur and Guinevere helped Merlin get to Gaius.

"My lord, what seems to…" Gaius stops when he sees the man Arthur is carrying.

"Hello Gaius." Merlin says smiling.

Gaius immediately clears off space for Merlin to lie down, and Arthur and Guinevere help Merlin lay face down on the table, immediately passing out when his head touched the table. Gaius' eyes widen when he sees all of the bruises, cuts, and welts on Merlin's back. Gaius sighs, "I'm going to need some help, one of the cuts is very infected."

Arthur steps forward, "I will."

"Arthur, you have a council meeting in an hour, and you haven't prepared yet." Guinevere says.

"But…" Arthur starts. "I can't leave him."

"I'll help Gaius and if Merlin…" Gwen trails off. "If anything happens I will tell you."

"Thank you, Guinevere." Arthur says looking at his wife. "I will return after the meeting."

Arthur left Gaius' chambers, Gwen and Gaius looked at each other before they started to work on Merlin. They disinfected the infected wound first, then stitched it and the other three whip cuts. When they were done with that, Gaius made a white salve and put it on the welts and minor cuts.

"The bruises should heal on their own." Gaius said. "Now let's put him on his bed."

Gaius grabbed Merlin's arms and Gwen grabbed his legs, together they put Merlin on his already made bed. The room was dusty from the lack use in the past three months. Gaius grabs for the blanket to put over Merlin, but stops when his ear hears something in Merlin's abdomen. Gaius drops the blanket on Merlin's legs and presses his ear to Merlin's abdomen. Gwen looks at him with a confused, and that look turns into worry when Gaius' mouth drops open.

"Gwen," Gaius says taking his ear off of Merlin. "Listen to this."

Gwen hesitates before she bends down and places her ear where Gaius' was. At first, there is nothing but then there is a sound like _thump thump thump thump_. Gwen quickly takes her away in shock and looks at Gaius, expecting him to tell her what that was.

"What did that sound like, Gwen?" Gaius asks.

Gwen thinks for a second, "A heart beating, but in his stomach. Did it somehow move from his chest?"

Gaius looks at Merlin then back at her, "No, that's impossible for a heart to move in that location with cutting Merlin open."

"Than what was that?" Gwen asks.

"I have an idea, but we need to do some research." Gaius said. "Find as many books as you can written by Cedric Tulie. He wrote about warlocks and special abilities they have."

Gwen and Gaius left Merlin to search through the many books that Gaius had for anything written by Cedric Tulie. The total was ten books and they started to search through the books to find something of use. Gaius was looking through changes that could happen in the anatomy of warlock when he stumbled upon something interesting. He picked up the book and walked over to Gwen and put the book down in front of her pointing to the particular section of the page.

"I might have found something." Gaius said.

Gwen quickly read what Gaius pointed at, her mind was racing after she finished. She looked up at Gaius who was looking at her like he already knew what she was thinking. Gwen asks, "Is this suggesting that the heart beat in Merlin's stomach means that he is with a child?"

"Yes," Gaius says and sits next to her. "Warlocks are fertile creatures. However, the question we should be asking is who did this to Merlin?"

"Gaius?" Merlin's voice called from his room.

Gaius looked at the door then back at Gwen and at the door again. He got up from his seat and walked into Merlin's room, Gwen right behind him. Merlin smiled when he saw them, Gaius couldn't help but notice how Merlin's eyes were so full of hope and happiness. This was going to be the hardest thing Gaius has ever had to do. Gaius sat down by Merlin's legs and looked at the boy, Gwen sat on the other side of the bed, the same curious expression on her face.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?" Merlin asked, the smile still high on his face.

"Merlin…" Gaius started. "Did any of the bandits… force themselves on you?"

"No." Merlin said, the smile dropping from his face.

"Merlin, you don't have to be ashamed." Gwen says with a small smile.

"They didn't." Merlin says looking away from them.

"What happened besides the injuries?" Gaius asks. "Did you do something you regret? Something that hurt you?"

"It was a mistake," Merlin says, Gaius can see a tear drop from his eye. "But don't regret it."

"What don't you regret?" Gwen asks taking Merlin's hand in hers.

"Did you fall in love with one of the bandits?" Gaius asks, he can tell that Merlin is very angry with him, but he has to make sure that Merlin wasn't robbed of his innocence.

"It wasn't a bandit, and I didn't fall in love, I did it to survive because I couldn't use my magic, I was too scared." Merlin said wiping his face with his free hand. "It was another prisoner. The man in the cage next to mine, a druid, he was around my age. That's how the bandits picked us, because we were so close in age."

"What happened Merlin?" Gwen asks.

"Five of the bandits took us out of our cages and brought us to the leader of the bandits. He said that for me and the druid would only keep our lives if we…" Merlin stopped talking when began to cry.

Gwen did her best to comfort the boy, but Gaius had to ask one more question. Gaius sighed, "Merlin, was this boy… was he on top of you."

Merlin didn't look at Gaius, but he still nodded. Gaius looked up at Gwen to discover she was already looking at him. Gaius turned back to Merlin, "Merlin, we believe… that you are with a child."

Merlin slowly looked up at them, letting what Gaius said sink in. Merlin asked in a disbelieving voice, "How is that possible? I'm a man."

"Yes," Gaius agreed. "A male _warlock_. Warlocks are fertile creatures."

"He's telling the truth Merlin," Gwen told him. "No matter how much you want to say that we're wrong, you know we're telling the truth."

Merlin was speechless, then the door to Gaius' chambers opened. Arthur's voice called out, "Gaius… Guinevere… Merlin?"

Gaius and Gwen start to get up from their seats when Merlin grabbed their arms. They looked at him waiting for him to say what he wanted to say, "Please keep this a secret, even from Arthur."

They smiled and nodded their heads in agreement. Arthur suddenly opened the door and ran to Merlin when he saw that his old servant was awake. Arthur hugged him and Merlin was surprised before he hugged Arthur back.

"I've missed you old friend." Arthur said to Merlin.

"And I you," Merlin told Arthur.

"Well, if you are feeling up to it," Arthur said. "There is a feast being held in celebration of your return to us."

"Really?" Merlin asked with enthusiasm. "That'd be great, but let me heal my back first."

Merlin started to reach for his spell book when Gaius stated, "Actually Merlin, you haven't used your magic for so long that starting again with such a complex spell is bad for your safety, and others _very_ close to you. And besides, I gave you a salve that should completely take the pain away and rapidly speed up the healing process."

Merlin understood that using a lot of magic during the pregnancy would be bad for both him and the child. Merlin nodded his head and looked up at Arthur, "I guess I'm going."

Arthur smiled, "Good, I'll see you soon. I'm going to change into my party clothes, are you coming with me Guinevere?"

"Yes," Gwen says. "I need to bathe and dress."

"See you two soon." Gwen said before joining her husband to walk to their chambers.

When the two left, Gaius turned to his friend. "Are you alright?"

"A child." Was all Merlin could manage.

"I know this must be very confusing," Gaius said. "But on the bright side, because you are a warlock you will never show that you are pregnant. Not physically anyway, your magic will make the womb bigger on the inside, but it will stay the same as it now. You will show only when the baby is ready to come out."

"Lucky pregnant Merlin." Merlin said glumly.

Gaius touched his shoulder, "Enough moping, this is supposed to be a beautiful time in your life."

Merlin smiled, then said, "Let's get to the feast. I'm starving."

"Yes," Gaius said, he got up to leave so he could go to the feast when turned back, "And remember Merlin, you are not a servant at _this_ feast. So eat enough for the both of you, it should be easy enough with the time on your hands."

"Yes _sire_." Merlin joked and Gaius shut the door as he was chuckling.

He got up from his bed and put on trousers, a light blue shirt, and red neckerchief. He would usually put on his brown jacket, but the only one he had was thrown into a fire when the bandits made him and the other prisoners strip naked. However, when opened his wardrobe he found a brand new one inside. Merlin smiled and put it on. Now fully dressed for the first time in three months, Merlin left for the feast.

Merlin walked swiftly through the castle walls, even though he had been gone for three months, he still knew exactly where he was going. Eventually, he made it to the banquet hall and heard the loud noise coming from the room. Merlin took a deep breath before entering the room and he saw his friends, knights, and the royal family at the front of the room. Gwaine, Percival, Elyan, and Leon were here too, done from delivering the other prisoners to their homes. Gwaine looked up from his dinner and noticed Merlin by the door. Gwaine stood up and walked over to him.

"Merlin, my friend." Gwaine says putting a hand Merlin's shoulder. "It's good to see you're okay."

"Thanks." Merlin said. "It's good to see you too. Good to see everyone."

"Yes," Gwaine agrees. "Come. You shall eat with me and the other knights."

"Alright." Merlin said before following Gwaine over to the table he was sitting at. Merlin sat down between Gwaine and Percival. A servant brought him dinner, which was chicken and a bit of bread to go along with it.

Before Merlin took a bite of is dinner, he looked up to see Arthur smiling at him. Merlin smiled back then turned his eyes to Gwen. She was smiling at the people and knights, then her eyes got to him and she smiled wider. Gwen mouthed the word, eat. Merlin looked away from her and started eating. The knights telling jokes, to Merlin, this was the best feast Camelot has ever thrown. Perhaps it was because he didn't have to be a serving boy at it.


	2. Fun

Merlin summoned the Great Dragon, Kilgharrah, because he wanted to make sure that the news he had heard from Gwen and Gaius was true. Kilgharrah flew from the horizon and landed in front of Merlin. Kilgharrah chuckled, "Hello young warlock. May I ask why you have summoned here?"

"Gaius and Gwen told me something that I am not sure whether I wish to be true." Merlin told him.

"Ah, yes." Kilgharrah says. "You are with a child."

"So it is true?" Merlin asks holding his abdomen with one hand.

"Yes," The dragon says. "But you are not carrying just any child. You are carrying the child created from a warlock and a druid. Such a thing has never happened before. The child's magic will be the strongest. Superior even to yours, Merlin."

Merlin looks down at where his hand is laying on his abdomen. His child is going to be so powerful, but Merlin still thought of the child as a simple mistake. Merlin looked back up at Kilgharrah, "I thought I was supposed to be the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the Earth?"

"Merlin, do you think that you were always the strongest sorcerer." Merlin shook his head. Kilgharrah nods. "Exactly, you became stronger than the person that everyone thought would be the most powerful of all time, and soon your child will do the same to you. It is the child's destiny."

"What destiny?" Merlin asks.

"Long ago," Kilgharrah starts. "There was a prophecy written about a child who is the pure essence of magic. From the child, sicknesses could be cured, war could be stopped, the dead brought back without a sacrifice in return. Your child is not only the essence of magic, it will be good itself. A hero."

"A hero." Merlin repeats. He then looks up at Kilgharrah, "I must get back to Gaius and Gwen. They think I'm still taking a nap."

"Goodbye." Kilgharrah says.

Merlin turns back and walks towards Camelot, but stops after taking five steps. Kilgharrah calls, "Oh, and Merlin, I know you think this child is just a mistake. It is not. You chose to take a part in conceiving it."

"I was forced to do it, I would've been killed if I hadn't done it." Merlin argues.

Kilgharrah shakes his head, "We both know that if you were using your own brain, you would not have done what you did. But the reason that you did was not because you were forced to by the bandit leader, you were forced to by destiny. And anything that destiny wants is not a mistake."

"If that is what you choose to believe, I won't say otherwise." Merlin says.

"It is what I choose." The dragon says. "And you should too, Merlin."

Merlin doesn't say anything, he turns around and walks back to Camelot, hearing Kilgharrah's wings start moving. The night sky shines as Merlin approaches Camelot, and he puts the hood of his dark blue cloak on head. Merlin enters the stables and ties up his horse before heading for the castle. Merlin climbs the stairs on his left and turns right, but immediately and backs up behind the wall when he sees Gwaine, Percival, and Arthur heading his direction.

"Are you sure this is wise sire?" Percival asks.

"Yes," Gwaine agrees with Percival's questioning. "Merlin has been through quite an ordeal these past few months, and definitely deserves some kind of honor for it, but this could have unintended consequences."

Merlin inhales sharply when he hears his name spoken. What are they talking about? It sounds like he's going to get some kind of award, but what? Merlin doesn't want to know, he just wants to go home. Merlin waits until Percival and Gwaine are looking at Arthur, and Arthur is not looking in Merlin's direction before runs straight. Merlin will just have to take the long way to avoid getting in trouble and getting back to Gaius and Gwen quickly.

However, Merlin knows he should have waited longer when he hears Arthur, "Wait! Did you see that? Follow me."

Merlin sprints down the hall and turns a corner, but hears Arthur's voice again, "There! Percival, follow me. Gwaine, sound the alarm. Go!"

Merlin sprints, hearing the footsteps closing in on him. Merlin sees the stairs leading up to Morgana's chambers and decides that she is his best bet for not getting caught. He runs up the stairs and runs in without bothering to knock. Thankfully, Morgana was just brushing her hair. She stops and looks up when she hears the door burst open, but calms when she sees Merlin take his hood off.

"Merlin…" Morgana starts, then the alarm bell starts.

"Arthur thinks an intruder is here, and I'm the person he saw." Merlin says taking off his cloak. "I thought I wouldn't get caught if I came here."

Morgana smiled, but it faded when footsteps came near her door. She looked at Merlin, "Give me the cloak."

Merlin took off the cloak and Morgana put it in her wardrobe. Merlin asks, "What are we going to tell them my reason for being here is?"

Morgana thinks for a moment, but as the footsteps get closer she acts rashly. She takes Merlin's shirt off and throws it on her bed before crushing their lips together. Merlin is taken back for a second, but understands that this is the reason why he would be there. He closes his eyes to make it seem more realistic and wraps his arms around her, and she does the same.

Arthur bursts through the door with Percival, Leon, and a couple of guards. Arthur is in the lead and starts, "Morgana, there is a…"

Arthur stops in his tracks, as well as the other two knights, when they see the sight in front of them. Morgana and Merlin break apart and pretend to be mad that someone interrupted their fun. Morgana's turns to fake concern when she sees who burst into her chambers. She says, "Arthur, what's wrong."

"There is an intruder. Don't you hear the alarm bell?" Arthur turns back to Percival and Leon with a look of confusion, who look shocked at what they just saw, then he turns back to Morgana and Merlin. "The real question is what was just happening a second ago?"

"Isn't it obvious, Arthur?" Merlin asks, he turns back to Morgana who has a smile on her face from Arthur's reaction. He kisses her cheek and says, "An act of love."

Morgana suppresses a laugh from Merlin's words. Merlin smiled at her, his face turned serious when he turned back to Arthur and the knights. Morgana puts her head on Merlin's shoulder and says to all the men besides Merlin, "You have your answer, now could you please leave?"

"Yes," Arthur said. "Sorry for bothering, whatever this is, it won's happen again. Please let us know if you see the intruder."

Merlin and Morgana have already started kissing again as Arthur said what he did. Arthur, Percival, Leon, and the guards leave the room quickly so they don't see what they think Morgana and Merlin are going to do. As soon as they hear the door shut and footsteps recede into the distance, Merlin and Morgana pull away from each other laughing.

"I didn't expect them to fall for that so easily." Morgana said.

"Yes," Merlin agreed. "I thought Arthur would be more angry, not confused and awkward about it."

The two stopped laughing and looked into each other's eyes. Merlin stares into hers, trying to remain in control of his thoughts and body. Merlin looked away at the door and turned back to her, "I need to get back to-"

"Merlin…" Morgana simply said. The two leaned in and kissed again, but this time it was an actual kiss and not one for show. They pulled away to look at each other, Merlin opened his mouth to say something but Morgana closed with another kiss and pulled away to say, "Be quiet Merlin."

After that, Morgan pushed Merlin on top of his shirt, which was still on Morgana's bed. Morgana jumped on top of him and they kissed again. That night they made their lie a reality.

Merlin awoke in a room that was not his own and had to remind himself of what happened the night before. He turned to see Morgana staring at him, and smiled when their eyes met. Merlin reached over to her and pushed a loose strand of hair out of her face, then kissed her forehead.

Merlin pulls away and says, "Good morning."

"Good morning." Morgana says and pulls herself closer to Merlin and hugs him. Their bare bodies emit warmth to them.

Merlin looks out the window and sees the first light come into view and he knows that he needs to eat something then get Arthur's breakfast. He turns back to Morgana, "I have to go."

"But I want you to stay." Morgana pleads.

"I know," Merlin says. "I want to stay with you, but I can't forget my responsibilities."

Morgana still looks sad, Merlin sighs, "I'll come back later."

Merlin kisses her one more time before he gets dressed and leaves, the cloak still in Morgana's wardrobe. Merlin walks into Gaius' chambers and shuts the door, and sees Gaius and Gwen standing there with their arms crossed. Merlin asks, "What?"

"I hear you and Morgana are now together." Gwen states.

"It was so I wouldn't get in trouble, I visited the Great Dragon and got caught when I was trying to get back home and they thought I was an intruder. I had to take the long way because the knights were blocking my usual route, but they were gaining on me so I went to Morgana's chambers and she helped me not get caught." Merlin defended himself. "I didn't know that I would end up taking her after Arthur left her chambers."

"You what?" Gaius said loudly. Merlin wished he had left out the part of him taking Morgana. Gaius isn't done though. "Do you feel so sorry for yourself about having to carry a child that you made Morgana have to carry one?"

"No, Gaius you know that's not who I am." Merlin defended himself.

"I have no idea who you are anymore Merlin." Gaius says. "Being a prisoner has changed you."

"No…" Merlin says. "That's not why I did it."

"Then why did you Merlin?" Gwen asks. "Why?"

"Because last night was the first time in three months that I've actually had any fun. Running from the guards, lying to Arthur, remaining undetected when they questioned us. _And_ I figured out that I love Morgana." Merlin says.

The room is silent after that, even Merlin didn't expect him to say that. He did love Morgana, but he wanted to keep it a private relationship. He should hit himself for thinking he could be able to love a Pendragon.

"Why are you both so angry?" Merlin asks them.

Gwen and Gaius look at each other. Gaius speaks, "Last night, there was a _real_ intruder. This intruder killed Uther last night."

"What?" Merlin asks. He looks to Gwen and she just has a tear in her eye.

Merlin slowly backs away until he touches the door, then he runs out into the castle corridors. Merlin ends up in Arthur's chambers where he sees Arthur pretending to read something, but Merlin can see the few tears slipping from his eyes. Arthur notices Merlin and wipes his eyes before putting the paper down and tries to act like his normal self.

"Good of you to join me," Arthur says, his voice slightly shaky. "Where's breakfast."

"Arthur…" Is all Merlin can say.

"What?" Arthur asks. "Don't tell me you're too tired from your wonderfully romantic night with my sister. You did ask for that, did you not?"

"I'm sorry about your father." Merlin says.

"Why?" Arthur asks. "Because he was a good father? Because he was a good man? Because he was a good king? Or do you just feel guilty for deflowering his daughter while he died?"

Merlin remains silent, and Arthur nods. "Well, if you are done with the pointless banter, you can go get my breakfast."

Merlin turns to head to the kitchen when Arthur calls at him, "Merlin, wait!"

Merlin turns around to see Arthur walking towards him. Arthur puts a hand on Merlin's shoulder and says, "Thank you for your concern, and I'm sorry about what I said about you and Morgana. You two can be together if you want. And I have to tell you about a job I want you to have."

"What job?" Merlin asks.

Arthur smiles, "I want you to be Camelot's Court Sorcerer."

"Court Sorcerer?" Merlin asks with a smile.

"Do you want the job or should I find someone else?" Arthur asks.

"I want it. I'll be Camelot's Court Sorcerer." Merlin says.

Arthur smiles, "Good, now follow me and I'll show you to your work quarters."

Arthur led Merlin to the other side of the castle and over to a door that had a sign next it which read _Court Sorcerer._ Arthur unlocked the door then handed the key to Merlin since it was his work space now. The door opens to reveal a spiral staircase, the staircase is really dusty and it was hard to see even though it was day and there are windows and the torches are lit. Merlin will have some cleaning to do later. The spiral staircase leads to another door, this one very dirty and dusty just like the spiral staircase. Arthur opens the door with another key, then hands the second key to Merlin. Arthur must really want Merlin's room to be secure and locked.

Arthur opens the door and lets Merlin go inside before him. Merlin stares at the room in front of him and smiles, despite its dirtiness. The room is almost ten times bigger than Gaius' chambers and has a ladder leading to the roof. There is a cauldron for making magical objects and potions, various ingredients, a fire pit in the middle for cooking things, and a couple of gems that look really important and powerful.

"What do you think?" Arthur asks.

"I have to do some cleaning and organizing, but the room is amazing." Merlin answers him.

"Well, I'll let you start your work." Arthur says leaving the room.

Merlin raises his hand to the room, " **Asthez mixasdit æghism**."

The room immediately cleans itself. Merlin opens the door to the spiral staircase and holds his hand out and says the same spell, " **Asthez mixasdit æghism**."

The staircase goes from dirty and dark to clean and light. Merlin can see now that the staircase and the walls around it are made out of marble. Merlin goes back to the main workspace and starts the organization process and finishes by putting all the books in alphabetical order, all the ingredients in order of amount, and vials of liquid organized by most likely to use in front and least likely to use behind the others in front. It takes Merlin three hours to finish organizing and when he does finish, he runs out to keep the promise he made to Morgana, locking both doors as he leaves and putting the keys in his pocket.

On the way to her chambers, he was walking through a corridor and Gwaine just so happened to be in the same corridor. Gwaine laughed when he saw him.

"I heard you and the Lady Morgana had a very active night." Gwaine said.

Merlin smiled, "Could you blame me?"

"Of course not," Gwaine says. "You are braver than most knights, and I get the feeling a lot of them are jealous of you."

"The king won't let any harm come to his Court Sorcerer." Merlin says.

Gwaine smiles again, "So you accepted."

"Yes." Merlin simply says.

"Be careful," Gwaine says. "The other kingdoms might not be so pleased that we've accepted sorcery into ours. We don't want a war."

"I promise I won't do anything harmful to any other kingdom or Camelot." Merlin promises.

"Good." Gwaine says, then he leaves.

Merlin lets go of a breath he didn't know he was holding and continues running to Morgana's chambers. The words that Gwaine had spoken whisper repeatedly in his ear. _We don't want a war._


	3. The Truth

**3 Months Later**

"How is it doing Gaius?" Merlin asks as Gaius feels around his abdomen.

Gaius takes a second before answering, "It's doing fine. Amazing."

Merlin smiles and puts his shirt down as he sits up on the table. He had realized that Kilgharrah was probably right, like always, about his child and Merlin decided that the child wasn't mistake. It was a creature of powerful magic that deserved to be treated with respect like any other person. Gaius was right about Merlin's stomach not growing, just the inside of the baby's womb.

"Only a little longer, right Gaius?" Merlin asks.

Gaius chuckles, "Yes Merlin, only a little longer."

Merlin's smile fades when he hears Gaius turn from him and head for the door without telling Merlin where he's going. Merlin jumps down from the table, "Gaius."

Gaius turns around before he touches the door handle. He asks, "What is it?"

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to get some supplies to help make a certain tonic. Why?"

"That's usually my job, isn't it?"

"I wouldn't want you to hurt the baby."

"Since when, today is the only day you're not letting me get them since we found out I was pregnant." Merlin wants to shout, but doesn't.

Gaius can see his distress and sighs, "I think you should tell the Lady Morgana the truth."

"The truth about what?" Merlin knows what Gaius is talking about but doesn't like the idea.

"Merlin, she deserves to know. After all, the child you're carrying might very well be the closest thing she has to one of her own."

Merlin frowns, "What do you mean?"

"Merlin, I fear that the Lady Morgana cannot conceive. If she could, she we would notice signs of her pregnancy." Gaius says.

Merlin thinks and realizes that Gaius is right, "Very well. I will go see her now. Just make sure that when I get thrown out the window that Arthur is not in charge of my funeral. He has no eye for beauty or creativity at all."

"I'll tell him that you wanted Gwen and me to plan it." Gaius jokes.

Merlin smiles before he leaves to tell Morgana about what actually happened during his imprisonment. To tell her about his unborn child. To tell her about what he really feels when he's with her. To tell her everything. To tell her the truth.

Merlin knocks on her door and waits for his love. The door opens to reveal Morgana, she doesn't open the door all the way, just enough for her head to be seen. She smiles when she sees that Merlin is the one that knocked. She says, "Oh, Merlin. Please, come in."

Morgana backs away from the door and Merlin walks inside and turns around. He opens his mouth to say something but stops when he realizes why Morgana didn't open her door all the way. She is not wearing a scrap of clothing on her torso, or her chest for that matter. Morgana seems to notice Merlin's staring and walks up to him with a playful smile. Her lips met Merlin's.

Merlin was lost for a minute before he lightly took his lips away from Morgana's. Morgana looked up at him with confusion. Merlin decided that this was as good a time as any to tell her. Merlin says, "Could you put a dress on? I need to talk to you about something serious."

Morgana began to look worried at that and as she was putting a dress on asked, "Is it about us? Are you not happy?"

"Yes, it's about us. But trust me, I'm happy with us." Merlin said helping her tie the dress at the back. "You, however, when I'm done could be unhappy."

Morgana chuckled and turned around, "What can you say that will make me unhappy, Merlin?"

"I'm with a child." Merlin blurted out. "A child that is not yours."

Morgana looked at him with a confused look, then she started laughing. After a minute she said, "Really, Merlin? You have got to be joking to believe that I would believe something so idiotic."

"I know you don't believe me, you're too smart. So I'm going to show you." Merlin said and lifted up his shirt to expose his abdomen.

Morgana gave him an odd look, "Merlin, what are you doing?"

Merlin took Morgana's hand, keeping his shirt up with the other hand, and started to guide it to his exposed abdomen. Morgana tried to pull her hand away, but Merlin kept it in his hand and said, "Trust me."

Merlin put Morgana's hand on his abdomen and waited for his child to move. After a minute, Morgana became impatient. She said, "Merlin, what are you waiting fo…"

She stopped when the child kicked where her hand was. Morgana kept it there to know if she was imagining this or if it was real. The baby kicked a second time, and then a third time. After the fourth time, Morgana pulled her hand away and turned her back on Merlin. Merlin swore he heard crying, but not sure if it was tears of anger, mistrust, sadness, or even if they were tears of happiness. Merlin got his answer when Morgana turned around, her tears were for all four reasons.

"Merlin," Morgana's voice was shaky. "How could you do this? How _did_ you do this?"

"I'm sorry," Merlin said. "It happened at the bandit camp. It was either a druid takes me on the floor in front of the leader, or we both die. I didn't know that my kind, warlocks, were fertile. I'm so so sorry. But not because of my child, no, _our_ child. I'm sorry because the child was not made with your help."

Morgana looked at him, her eyes telling him that she believed him. Her lips formed into a small smile, "Merlin, I know that you would never do this of your own free will. You're too pure and kind to do so."

Merlin felt a tear roll down his cheek. Morgana put a hand on his face and wiped the tear away with her thumb. Merlin felt his breathing slow down because he was so close to her. Well, so close to her without having any secrets to hide from her, and he knew that if Morgana were to leave him, he would be broken for the rest of his life. Maybe if that happened, he would be like Uther and ban wives from leaving their husbands and the people they love. Merlin shuddered when he thought about himself being like Uther.

Morgana kissed Merlin and hugged him. She said, "I want this child to think of me as its mother, but I can't lie to it. I don't want to lie to it. I just want to be able to live it."

Merlin kissed her forehead, "That's what I was hoping you would say, my love."


	4. Birth

**4 Months Later**

Merlin was tired and could barely move, most likely because he was on the final month of his pregnancy. Gaius had made sure he did not leave his chambers, and Gwen and Morgana were spending practically every moment with him. They all knew what would happen very soon, and everyone was preparing for the child.

Gaius was sterilizing everything that was needed to cut Merlin open, and was making potions to take the pain away, as well as creating more of the salve to heal Merlin. Morgana was asking mothers that have given birth about how the birth of their children went, and was learning how to take care of the child. Gwen was distracting Arthur, as well as all of Merlin's knight friends, giving them fake things to help with, they need absolute privacy and concentration for the birth of Merlin's child.

Merlin felt happy and anxious for his baby to arrive, but he was also scared. He didn't want to be cut open, but it was the only thing that they could do. Whatever Merlin had to do to birth his child, he would do it. Even if he had to die in the process, he knew that his child would be taken care of by his friends with or without him.

"Are you alright, Merlin?" Gaius asked him again.

"Yes, for the hundredth time, yes." Merlin said with a chuckle.

"I'm just checking, the baby can be ready at any moment."

"I know, but I kind of…" Merlin stopped.

Gaius looked at him with a concern clearly visible in his eyes. He says, "Merlin…"

Merlin didn't answer, then all of the sudden Merlin's stomach grew to the size of a woman that was nine months pregnant. Gaius was sure of two things, the first was that the child was ready to come out, and the second was Merlin was in extreme amounts of pain. He started to fall backwards and Gaius ran to grab Merlin, trying to be gentle to not cause him more pain. Gaius set him on a table, the same table that he healed Merlin's back injuries on. Gaius knew he had to start the delivery, even if neither Gwen nor Morgana was here with them. The table had been cleared for weeks now, just in case of an instance like this, which is what they considered the worst scenario for the birth. Merlin couldn't walk and Gaius was all alone, they did prepare what to do if the other two walked and someone has already started alone. All he could hope for is that Morgana and Gwen would be here soon. Then Merlin started twitching and shaking uncontrollably.

Gaius sighed and began when he could not bear to look at the pain on Merlin's face any longer. He picked walked over to the cupboard and brought a potion that would knock Merlin out for a few hours, as well as a potion to slow the inevitable bleeding, potions that will get rid of pain, and the salve to help Merlin heal. Gaius took the stopper from the vial that contained the potion that would knock Merlin out, he poured a few drops in Merlin's mouth. Merlin's entire body automatically relaxed.

Gaius got a sterile knife to cut open Merlin's abdomen with and removed Merlin's shirt. Placing the blade against Merlin's skin, Gaius took a deep breath before putting more pressure on Merlin's skin with the knife and cutting down. The blood instantly spilled all over the table and Gaius' hands. Gaius grabbed the potion that would slow the bleeding, and gave Merlin a few drops of it. The blood almost immediately stopped gushing out like before and slowed down.

Gaius let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and almost cried tears of joy when he heard the door open and saw Morgana and Guinevere come inside. The two women stopped when they saw the sight in front of them. A few seconds later the two followed the plan that they have been practicing with for a month now. Morgana got towels, water, and everything needed to close Merlin's injury. Gwen stood by Gaius and started to check Merlin's vitals to see if he was still alright. After being satisfied with Merlin's breathing and pulse, Gwen shot up and waited for Gaius to tell her what to do.

"Morgana, put one of the towels in the water and put it on Merlin's forehead! When I get the child out I need you to cut the umbilical cord! After that, get a towel ready to put the baby in!" Gaius ordered. "Gwen, hold the skin like this while I get the child!"

Gwen put her hands where Gaius' were and Gaius put his hands inside Merlin's abdomen. It took a second, but he found the child and pulled it out of Merlin's stomach. The child immediately started crying, and Gaius had only taken it out for a second before Morgana cut the umbilical cord like Gaius said then grabbed a towel for the child to be put in. The blood on the child stained the towel and its tears drenched Morgana's dress.

Morgana started to wash the child before she studied it more closely and smiled before she said, "It's a girl!"

Gaius and Gwen understood what she said but were more occupied with sewing up Merlin to celebrate. After all of the stitches were in place, Gaius gave Merlin half a bottle of one of the potions that would take some of his pain away. While Gaius was doing this, Gwen was busy applying the salve to Merlin's cut, a tear slipping from her eyes when she felt Merlin's blood on her hands. When the two were done with Merlin, Morgana had finished bathing the new born girl and calming him to sleep.

Gaius washed his hands and turned to Morgana with his hands outstretched, "Let me see her."

Morgana handed the girl that she considered her daughter to Gaius. Gaius checked the girl and smiled, "A perfectly healthy child. In fact, she is one of the healthiest babies I have seen."

"Good." Morgana said with a smile. "That's great."

"What about Merlin?" Gwen asked with her now clean hands swapping the towels on Merlin's forehead.

Gaius handed the girl over to Morgana and walked to Merlin. Gaius put his ear next Merlin's mouth and moved when he felt his breath. He put his fingers on Merlin's neck and felt a slightly slow pulse. Lastly he moved to Merlin's stitched abdomen and checked to see that everything was done properly. He frowned when he saw blood and gave Merlin another few drops of the potion that would slow the bleeding, just a couple less this time. He did not want to completely stop Merlin's blood flow.

When Gaius was satisfied, he turned to the two women, and the girl in Morgana's arms. He says, "Everything seems healthy. I gave him a potion that would only keep him asleep for a few hours, but with the amount of potion I gave him to stop the bleeding Merlin will probably wake up in a few days."

"But he _is_ going to live, right?" Morgana asks.

"It seems as though he is, but things can take a turn for the worst. I hope you know that." Gaius tells them.

"We just have to make sure that he stays a live than." Gwen says.

"Yes." Morgana says putting the sleeping girl into the basket that would be her bed for now. "We're not going to let him die. Gwen and I will just have to continue making excuses for them not to see Merlin until he's feeling better. He can tell people about our daughter's birth later."

"Speaking of the girl," Gaius begins. "Have you and Merlin thought of names yet?"

"We haven't discussed them, but he did say that he would let me pick if it was a girl." Morgana says.

"So what will it be?" Gwen asks.

Morgana thinks for a moment and smiles before she says, "Stephanie."

"That's a beautiful name." Gwen says. Morgana smiles and hugs Gwen and Gaius.

It's been four days since Stephanie was born and Merlin had still not woken up yet. The three did move Merlin to his bed when he was healthy enough to be moved, which was a day after Stephanie was born. Gwen was always finding reasons for Arthur and the other knights to not go to Merlin's Court Sorcerer office, or Gaius' chambers, or even Morgana's chambers because she had practically began living in Gaius' chambers.

Morgana would help her when she was able to leave Stephanie with Gaius, these times were mostly when Gaius had checked Merlin and found that he was healthier than the day before. Gaius knew that Merlin could wake up any day, any hour, any minute, or any second, so he checked on Merlin every ten minutes to see if he was awake yet. Merlin's wound was healed and his pulse is normal again.

One night, both Morgana and Gwen were in Gaius' chambers and were taking care of Stephanie. Morgana had been buying things for Stephanie to live in her chambers. Merlin would be moving to her chambers soon as well. Merlin and Morgana were secretly engaged, not even Gaius nor Gwen knew. They were waiting for everything to be well. By well, they meant Stephanie being born and Merlin recovering from the procedure after Stephanie's birth. Morgana was too busy thinking about that, and Gwen and Gaius were too busy smiling over every little movement Stephanie made that no one noticed the sound of a door opening.

A familiar voice called from behind them, "How long have I been out?"

All three turned around to see Merlin staring at them. His hair a mess, no shirt on, and a blanket around his abdomen. Gaius handed Stephanie to Morgana, Merlin's eyes widened when he saw the small girl.

Gaius walked over to Merlin, "How do you feel?"

"The scar is a little soar," Merlin says looking over Gaius' shoulder to see Stephanie. Stephanie was looking at Merlin with the same intensity, as if she knew who Merlin was to her. Merlin continued. "My throat hurts a little too."

"Well, I'm not surprised, I gave you quite a lot of potions." Gaius says.

"Yeah…" Merlin agreed not really paying attention to Gaius.

Gaius saw this and chuckled, "Merlin, why don't you get a shirt on and you can hold little Stephanie."

"Stephanie…" Merlin whispers.

"Go on Merlin." Gaius says. "She's not going anywhere."

Merlin nodded and walked back into his room to get a shirt on. Gaius turned around and noticed the tears of joy in Morgana's eyes and smiled. Then his eyes dropped to Stephanie. She was staring at the door to Merlin's room, and Gaius thought he saw recognition in Stephanie's eyes. Gaius couldn't help but think that Stephanie would be one of the smartest minds in her generation.

Gaius was pulled out of his thoughts when the door to Merlin's room opened again. Merlin walked out in a grey shirt that hung over his skinny frame now. When Merlin's stomach showed that he was nine months pregnant, the weight left him in a day. Gaius was worried for a while because was already skinny as it is and didn't want Merlin to get hurt any further.

"Can I hold her now?" Merlin asked.

"Of course." Morgana said and walked to Merlin and put Stephanie in his arms.

When she was in his arms, Stephanie immediately clung to Merlin's shirt. Merlin seems to get stronger with Stephanie in his arms and holds her tighter to his torso. Merlin smiles and takes on of his hands away from Stephanie, Morgana moves closer from worry that Merlin is too weak to hold her with one arm. Merlin uses his free arm to stroke Stephanie's face and Stephanie almost immediately falls asleep.

Arthur Pendragon sits in his chambers at his desk looking over papers that Guinevere, his wife, gave him. Arthur looks up when he hears a knock at his door, "Enter!"

The door opens and his five most trusted knights, Lancelot, Elyan, Percival, Leon, and Gwaine, walk inside. Arthur smiles and says, "Where have you lot been? I haven't seen you in over a month.

"Queen Guinevere told us that during a ride she saw a pack of wild and strange animals attacking a village. She asked us to protect the villagers." Sir Leon said.

"Guinevere didn't tell me about any animal attacks?" Arthur asked setting the paper down.

"When we arrived there, there was not a single person who knew anything about the animal attacks. We would have left, but we got letters from anonymous people saying that there was indeed animal attacks." Lancelot said.

"So there were animal attacks than?" Arthur asked.

"We thought so until a few days ago when we realized that all the letters had the same hand writing on them. The letters told us that they were coming from different people with each letter." Elyan said.

"We were tricked by Queen Guinevere." Percival said.

Arthur sighed, "I trust you are not lying to me."

"Of course not sire." Leon says.

"Good," Arthur says. "Now I have to figure out what's happening to the farms then go see Guinevere."

"There's nothing wrong with the farms. They looked healthy and the farmers were harvesting them as we rode into Camelot. I believe that you have been tricked yourself princess." Gwaine said. "Who gave that to you?"

"Guinevere." Arthur said. "It's one thing if Morgana tricks someone, it's what she does, but now that Guinevere is working with her now. They have been disappearing and I don't see them that often, I haven't even seen Merlin in more than a month either which must mean that they are hiding something for Merlin. But what is it?"

"I'm sure everything is fine." Lancelot says.

"I can't accept that." Arthur says. "My sister and ward, my wife and queen, my best friend and Court Sorcerer are hiding something from me. I need to know why and what it is that they are hiding."

Arthur walks out of his chambers, the knights following him, and enters Merlin's Court Sorcerer chambers. Everything is untouched, and is starting to get dusty again, but nowhere near as dusty as it was before.

"Strange. It's almost as if Merlin has left Camelot all together." Lancelot says.

The group moves on to Morgana's chambers. It was not dusty nor unclean. In fact, stuff was moved inside. Mostly things made for a child. Clothes, a small bed, and toys. Arthur tried his best to ignore the few things that he knows belongs to Merlin.

Arthur sighed, "I think I know what's going on."

"Sire…" Leon says.

"Morgan is with a child. A child that belongs to Merlin." Arthur says.

"They must be in Gaius' chambers." Elyan says.

"Yes." Arthur agrees. He turns to the door and walks out, looking over his shoulder and saying. "Let's go."

The six walk to Gaius' chambers, Arthur fueled by anger from the lies of his family and best friend. He opens the door and stops when he sees the sight in front of him. Gaius, Guinevere, Morgana, and Merlin were all there, but what made Arthur stop was the baby girl in Merlin's arms. Arthur expected to see Morgana tired and a mess, but Merlin was the one who looked like that.

Arthur walks forward, "Guinevere, Morgana, Merlin, where have you been?"

Merlin turned and looked really scarred when he saw Arthur and the knights. Arthur continued, "Merlin what happened to you? You like _you_ were the one that birthed that child."

Merlin stepped back, Morgana sensed his fear and stepped in front of Merlin and said, "Leave him alone Arthur, you have no idea what he's been through."

"It's not like he's going to hurt Merlin." Gwaine said.

"Whose child is that?" Leon asked pointing at Stephanie.

"She belongs to Merlin." Guinevere says stepping forward.

"Where's the mother?" Elyan asks.

"There is no mother," Gaius says. "No _birth_ mother, I should say. However, Morgana has taken to calling the girl her daughter and the girl seems happy about that. This child was born between Merlin and another man."

"Merlin carried the child?" Arthur asks dumbfounded. "And the other parent is who, exactly?"

"A druid that was prisoner with me in the bandit camp." Merlin tells them.

"Did you think you were going to die and didn't want to die untouched?" Percival asks.

"No," Merlin says. "We were forced to by the leader of the bandit camp. We would die if we didn't. I didn't know that my kind, warlocks, were fertile."

"You weren't completely wrong than Percival." Gwaine jokes. "He was going to die if he didn't do it."

"Arthur," Guinevere says looking at her husband. "Are you alright?"

Arthur didn't say anything, but he still walked forward. Morgana got in his way, but Arthur gently moved her to the side and walked past her. Merlin backed away, but Arthur was faster than Merlin because of the pain that Merlin was still in. He prepared himself for Arthur to hit him, to take Stephanie away from him, but he wasn't prepared for Arthur to hug him.

Merlin's eyes shot open to see if it was indeed Arthur Pendragon hugging him. Everyone was quiet and staring at the two while they were hugging, even Stephanie knew that something was different. After a minute, Arthur parted from Merlin and put his hands on Merlin's shoulders. He turned his attention to Stephanie and tried to reach for her, but Merlin moved away.

"I'm not going to hurt her." Arthur promises. "I might not be related to her by blood, but she is still my niece."

Merlin was taken by surprise and didn't object when Stephanie was lifted from his arms. Merlin looked at Arthur and saw the look he gave Stephanie. Merlin smiled at the sight of Arthur hugging and his daughter and looking at her with such care. Merlin has found his family and has never felt so happy in his life.

 **THE END**


End file.
